Share this article
Telegram Releases Test Crypto Wallet Despite SEC Lawsuit
Telegram, the messaging app company turned blockchain startup, has released an early desktop wallet for its crypto token.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 11:39 a.m. Published Nov 1, 2019, 2:00 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Telegram, the messaging app company turned blockchain startup, has released an early desktop wallet for its "gram" token.
Now users can download the test app for MacOS, Windows and Linux 64 bit on Telegram's official website and get their keys on the TON testnet. The wallet asks users to save 24 seed words and create a password for payments, after which the wallet is ready to receive and send grams.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
"Now you have a wallet only you control – directly, without middlemen or bankers," the app says to new users.
Users can also get testnet grams from a special Telegram bot, asking it to send from 5 to 20 tokens. A test transaction took just a minute for this CoinDesk reporter, though the bot warned it could take longer at busy times.
TON, an ambitious blockchain project by Telegram, which raised $1.7 billion in a closed token sale last year, had been previously scheduled to launch until October 31. In September, the team released the code for a full node, a validator node and block explorer, signaling that the project had been on its way to launch.
In the beginning of October, the project published the terms of use for the wallet app and asked the investors to share their public keys using TON's key generator — according to the developers community chats groups, the same generator is now built into the app.
However, the launch was postponed after Telegram was sued by the SEC, which deemed grams to be unregistered securities and asked the court to prevent Telegram from delivering tokens to investors. Telegram subsequently got an approval from investors to postpone the launch until April 31, 2020, to win more time time to clear the situation with the SEC.
The company is going to meet the SEC in court on February 18 and 19, 2020, in New York.
Telegram app image via Shutterstock
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Circle’s biggest bear just threw in the towel, but warns the stock is still a crypto roller coaster
Circle’s rising correlation with ether and DeFi exposure drives the re-rating, despite valuation and competition concerns.
What to know:
- Compass Point’s Ed Engel upgraded Circle (CRCL) to Neutral from Sell and cut his price target to $60, arguing the stock now trades more as a proxy for crypto markets than as a standalone fintech.
- Engel notes that CRCL’s performance is increasingly tied to the ether and broader crypto cycles, with more than 75% of USDC supply used in DeFi or on exchanges, and the stock is still trading at a rich premium.
- Potential catalysts such as the CLARITY Act and tokenization of U.S. assets could support USDC growth, but Circle faces mounting competition from new stablecoins and bank-issued “deposit coins,” and its revenue may remain closely linked to speculative crypto activity for years.
Top Stories
